Mat marking



c. J. PETERSON MAT MARKING Filed Jan. 26 1921 Patented Get. 9, lg g.

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"MAT MARKING.

Application filed January 26, 1821. Serial No. -14(),O37.

To a, whom,- r'l 'nmg/ concern:

Be it known that l, CHmsTnn' J. Pn'rnnson, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oak Park, in the county of Cook and State of lllinois, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Mat llclarkings, of which the following is a specification.

Thi invention relates more particularly to means for applying letters, names, marks, and other indicating devices to folding hinged mats. tluch mats are made up of longitudinal links common y made of leather or libre and transverse hinging rods. The objects of this invention are to provide such mats with suitable marking devices or lettering-1 to provide letters having hinge members whereby they may engage the hinging rods of such mats; to provide letters or marking device which will serve as tread elements which may be readily assembled in the mat construction; and to provide such, further advantage and improvements as will be described hereinafter.

in the accompanying drawing illustrating an embodiment of my invention;

Figure l. is a plan view showing a portion of a mat with etters applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 bottom view of one of the letters; and,

Figure is a modification showing an enlarged letter.

i hown in these drawings, the mat construction comprises link members 5 and hingingr rods ('3, this being; the usual construction for leather or fibre mats. The

links a are arranged in oifset relation so that the links on each pair of rods are spaced apart.

The owners or users of these floor mats frequently desire their names to be displayed in the mats, but on account of the somewhat peculiar construction of these folding" link mats it has not been heretofore considered practicable to apply names or lettering; thereto. In accordance with this invention, 1 provide letters which may be applied to the mats and which are preferably interchangeable with the link members. As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the letters comprise plates or base portions 7, which are preferably recessed on the bottom so as to provide a peripheral flange 8 which is even with the lower surface of the links and adapted to rest on the floor. The plate '7 is also provided with perforated ears or lugs 9 which serve as hinge members to engage with the pins or rods 6. The letter proper appears as an embossing 10 on the plate 7, the upper surface of the letter being in a ignment with the upper surface of the links so that the letters serve as tread members or link members. The lugs 9 on one side of the letter are preferably arranged in opposed relation with those on the opposite side so that several letters will fit together as shown in Figure 1. These letters are preferably made so that they will be interchangeable with standard sizes of links, or as shown in Figure 1 each letter occupies the space of three of the links and therefore letters may be readily assembled with the standard construction. lVhere one of the links is positioned opposite to the center of the letter, spreaders or filler sleeves 10 may be used for holding the end of the link in position.

In some cases it may be desirable to have the letters considerably enlarged, in which case they may extend across the space between several rods as shown in the modification in Figure 4. In this instance the letter may be made so'id, but if made in this manner the mat can not be folded on the central rod. However, this folding may be permitted if the letter itself is hinged through the center as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 4.

As these letters or marking devices are interchangeable with the link members, the mats may be readily assembled with any desired lettering or marking incorporated therewith. Furthermore as the upper sur faces of the letters are coincident with the upper surface of the mat, the letters will be worn even y with the mat and for this reason will usually appear bright and legible. lit will be noted that various changes may be made in the construction of the letters and any desirabe design of type or marking may be utilized without departing from the scope of this invention, therefore, what l claim is;

1. A marking device for mats formed of links and cross rods, comprising a plate having; a peripheral flange on its lower side and a raised letter on its upper side, said plate also having integrally formed pairs of lugs on its opposite sides each pair of lugs being provided with aligned openings to receive the cross rods of the mat.

2. The combination with a mat formed of links and cross rods, of a marking device comprising a plate having a character formed on its upper side, said plate also having lateral integrally formed perforated lugs engaging with the cross rods and spreaders engaging with the cross rods for holding the end of one of the links in proper position.

3. The combination with a mat formed of links and cross rods, of a marking device comprising plate inserted between two of said cross rods, said plate having a peripheral flange on one side and a character on the other side and also having integrally formed projecting lugs engaging with the 20 i cross rods.

CHRISTEN J. PETERSON. 

